Fence-post



(No Model.)

W. H. KIMBALL.

FENCE POST.

Patented Sept. 10, 1895.

ANDREW IGRIMM.PHmUTHlWSmNGTUNJ-C.

Unirse S'rntrns "Partant @riviera IVILLIAM H. IIIMBALL, OF J ON ESVILLE, MICHIGAN.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 546,161, dated September 10, 1895.

Application filed March 19, 1895. Serial No. 542,369. (No model.)

To @ZZ 'whomiz may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at .Ionesville, in the county of Hillsdale and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence- Posts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use the same. Y

The present invention is an improved felicepost and base in which either metallic or wooden posts can be used at will or in which Vthe wooden post can be replaced by a metallic post, such as a gas-pipe post.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and durable construction of base in which a wooden post can be used a length of time, and after decay ot' said post it can be easily removed without taking up the hase, and in lieu of the wooden post a metallic post may be fastened in the saine base in a rigid, secure manner.

1With these and such other ends in view as pertain to my invention, it consists of aplastic vitrilied base having a socket produced therein and a metallic cap-plate united to the top ot' the base and provided with an opening which conforms to the cross-sectional form of said post-socket, combined with a detachable anged plate adapted to be tted to the opening in the top plate, and said detachable plate provided with a post-receiving opening, and means for fastening the detachable plate and the post to the base; and the invention further consists in the construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my inven-` the removable plate designed to be used when small posts-such as, .metallic or gaspipe posts-are to be fastenedto the base. Fig. 4t is a sectional viewof mylo'ase with a wooden post fitted in and secured to the base. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the base with a metallic post secured thereto, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view ofthe devices shown by Fig. 5.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures ot the drawings.

A designates my improved base, which is preferably made of plastic material, molded to suitable shape and hardened or vitrified to make the saine strong and durable. The shape of the base andthe material or materials employed in its manufacture are not important; butI prefer to use a base of cement and gravel, substantially as described in my United States Patent No. 421,582.

In the drawings I have shown the plastic base substantially rectangular in form, although it may taper slightly from the bottoni toward the top, and in this base is produced the post-socket B. This post-socket B is rectangular or square in form and of such dimensions as to receive a wooden post G, which is designed to be fitted snugly in the socket, and this socket B is prolonged or extended to form the vertical central cavity b, which is below the socket B, and which cavity opens into the socket to adapt the lower end of a smaller metallic post to tit into the cavity, in order to center and seat the metallic post in the base. To provide for the egress of water and moisture that may accumulate iu the socket around the post, I provide a drainpassage D, which inclines downwardly from thesocket, the upper end of the drain-pas- Sage D opening into the socket B or its prolonged cavity and the lower end ot'said passage opening through one of the sides of the base, as shown by Fig:4,' although said drain-f' passage 1may extend vertically through the base and open through the lower extremity thereof. y VIl is the metallic cap or plate, which is permanently united to the top ofthe base, in order to protect the upper end of the base and its edges from injury. This top plate or cap may be either cast or sheet metal and it may have pendent flanges at the outer edges thereof to tit over the outside of the base. The cap or plate E conforms tothe shape and size IOS of the base at the top thereof, and in this plate or cap is formed an opening f, which oorrespends in form and size to the socket B, se

that the edges of the openingfare in line with the walls of the socket.

The plate F maybe secured in any suitable way to the base-as, for instance, by molding the material to or within the tlanged plate or cap F--but to provide for the more secure attachment of the plate or cap to the base I prefer to employ the fastening devices shown in the drawings as consisting of the rods or wires G G. Each rod or wire is staple-like in form and its legs are passed through apertures produced in the plate on opposite sides of the post-openingf, and these wires or rods pass through and are embedded in the plastic base, the material being molded around the fastening wires or rods. The free ends of the staple-like fasteners are extended through the lower' end of the plastic base and the ends are clinched against the base, as in Fig. 4. The ends of each staple-like wire may be twisted together below the base, as in Fig. 6.

The socket B and the openingf in the permanent cap or plate F are of such size as to accommodate an ordinary wooden post C, as in Fig. et, and in this post is pierced an opening c, which is made to align or coincide with the horizontal passage g, which isfmolded or pierced in the plastic base. Through the aligned aperture and passage in the base and wooden post respectively is passed a horizontal key, pin, or bolt Il, which serves to hold the post tirmly and securely in the socket of the base. My improved base is also adapted for use in connection with a metallic post I, which, as is usual in this art, is smaller than the wooden post.

To provide for the rigid support and secure connection ot the smaller metallic post to the base I employ the detachable plate J, which is somewhat smaller than the permanent plate F, but is larger than the opening f in the plate F. This removable plate is designed to be fitted on top of the plate F, over the opening f therein, and said removable plate is pierced with a post-receiving opening j, the latter being produced therein at such a point that when the plate J is applied tothe plate F the opening j will be in vertical line with the cavity h in the base, whereby the metallic post can be properly seated and centered in the base and the cap plates.

To provide a simple and secure method of fastening the plate J and metallic post to the base I produce on the lower side of the plate J a continuous pendent flange 7c, which flange is perforated at 7s', and the post I is pierced transversely at t', said flanged plate J and post I being adjusted so that the openings k and t' therein are in coincidence with the passage g to enable the pin, bolt, or rod I'I to fasten the base, flanged plate, and metallic post securely together. The flange 7l; on the plate J lies within the edges of the plate, and said [lange lits snugly within the opening f and the socket B to prevent movement of the detachable plate on the permanent plate F and the base.

Ordinarily wooden posts will be used in connection with my base in order to keep the cost of installation at the lowest limit, but in the course of time it will be found that these wooden posts will decay or rot. Such defective posts can be replaced by metallic posts by using the plates J and without removal of the bases from the ground, because it is only necessary to withdraw the pins or bolts II and take out the posts, then place the plates J and metallic posts in position, after which the pins or bolts II are replaced. This operation of changing the posts can be effected at any time ot the year, because it is not required that the bases shall be dug up out ot the ground to place the metallic posts in the bases or to supply new wooden posts in lieu of the defective wooden posts, and the farmer or owner of the property is thus in a position where he can replace defective posts with either metal or wooden posts without waiting for the frost to leave the ground, as is now customary.

It is thought that the operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood from the foregoing descriptiomtaken in connection with the drawings.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in the details of coustruction herein shown and described as an embodiment of my invention can be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from thespirit or sacrificing the advantages ot' my invention, and I therefore reserve the right to make such alterations as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my inventionA` what I claim as new, and desire to secure oy Letters Patent, is-

l. A plastic tence-post base having a post socket, a tlat plate permanently united to the top of the base by longitudinal rods or wires which extend through and are embedded in said base, and said plate having a post-openingf, the edges of which are flush with the walls of said post-socket in the base, com bined with a'post which is fitted in the socket and opening ofthe base and permanent plate, respectively, and a horizontal bolt or pin which passes through the base and the post below said permanent plate, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination with a base having a post-socket and a permanent cap having an opening, of a removable plate titted to the opening in the permanent cap and provided with a post-receiving opening, a post fitted in the opening ot the removable plate and in the socket of the base, and meansfor detachably fastening the plate and the post to the base, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The base provided with a permanent cap or plateV which has an opening iiush with the walls of the post-socket, in combination with a removable plate which is fitted to the permanent plate and provided with apost-open- IIO ing, a post, and means for securing the removable plate and said post to the base, substantially as and for the purposes described.

a. A post-base adapted for use in connection with posts of diierent diameters, provided with a socket, in combination with a removable plate having a flange adapted to tit in the socket in said base, a post, and a single fastener-pin which passes through said flanged plate and the post, substantially as and for the purposes described.

A post-base having a closed lower end and a contracted cavity h extending below the post-socket., and a permanent plate having the inner edges of its openiugf substantially flush with the Walls of the post-socket, cornbined with a removable plate tted to the permanent plate and provided with a vertical opening' which is in line with the cavity b in the base, a post passing through the opening in the removable plate and having its lower end iitted in the cavity b of the base, and means for fastening the removable plate and the post to the base, substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. The combination of a plastic base provided With a socket and with a transverse passage which intersects with the socket, a plate having a pendent perforated flange which is fitted within the socket of the base 3o to have its perforations in line with the transverse passage in said base, a post passing through the plate and fitted in the socket of the base, and a single pin fitted in the passage ot the base, the post, and in the perforated flange of the plate, substantially as described. Y

7. A plastic base for fence posts provided with a socket B, a permanent plate F having an opening f, the edges of which are substantially flush with the walls of the socket B, and the fastening Wires or rods passed through the plate F and the base, and em bedded in the latter, the free ends of the Wires or rods being clinched or otherwise held at the bottom end of the base, combined with a removable ilanged plate fitted in the opening f of the permanent plate, a post passing through the removable flanged plate, and means for fastening the removable plate and the post to the base, substantiallyas described. In testimony whereof I aftix my signature in presence ot Witnesses.

VLLIAM ll. KIMBALL. Witnesses:

Vieron I'IAWKINS, GEO. lV. STEVENS, F. N. LnnsoN. 

